Practice Exercises: Using Articles
Adapted from Perdue OWL and Focus on Editing (Fox)
1. A vs An
Indefinite Articles are "a" and "an." They apply when you’re talking about any member of a
group. Fill in the blank with “a” or “an.”
1. __a__ blue house
11. __a__ current
2. __an__ imagination
12. __an__ elephant
3. __a__ girl
13. __a__ plum
4. __an__ orange
14. __a__ computer
5. __a__ used car
15. __an__ ocean
6. __a__ happy birthday
16. __an__ example
7. __an__ uncle
17. __a__ rock
8. __an__ antelope
18. __a___ bookshelf
9. __a__ husband
19. __an__ honorable man
10. __an__ opera singer
20. __an__ interesting man
2. Indefinite and Definite Articles
Definite Articles (the) indicate a specific member of a group. Decide if you need an indefinite
article (“a” or “an”) or a definite article (“the”), and fill in the blank appropriately.
1. The farmer bought __AN__ ox to help till his
field.
8. Please give me __THE__ piece of pie to the
left of the cake in the display.
2. __THE__ school on my street is progressive.
9. __AN__ energetic person would be fun to
spend time with.
3. Mrs. Geremia is __AN__ Italian woman.
4. I borrowed __A__ marker from your bag of
crayons and markers.
5. One of the dancers said, "__THE__
instructor is late today."
6. I want __AN__ orange from that bucket.
7. My friend is learning to play __THE__ flute
at her school.
10. __THE__ color of the paint I’m using is
pink.
3. Geographical Place and Proper Nouns: When Can You Skip Articles?
Some proper nouns, like countries, cities, lakes, single mountains, and streets do not need an
article. Others, general places like regions, oceans, deserts, mountain ranges and peninsulas
need “the” before them. Fill in the blank if you need an article, leave it blank if you do not.
1. ____ Albania
7. __THE__Nile River
2. __THE__ Pacific Ocean
8. __THE__Alps
3. ____Lake Champlain
9. ____Mount Everest
4. ____Albany, NY
10. ____Kansas
5. __THE__Sahara Dessert
11. __THE__Middle East
6. ____Lake George
12. ____ Brandywine St NW
4. Editing a Paragraph
All of the articles have been taken out of these paragraph, fill in the blanks with the appropriate
article or leave it blank if you do not need an article. You do not need an article for certain
geographical locations, general terms, years, and uncountable nouns.
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was A Founding Father of THE
United States, chief staff aide to General George Washington, one of the most influential
interpreters and promoters of THE U.S. Constitution, THE founder of the nation's financial
system, and THE founder of The New York Post. As THE first Secretary of the Treasury,
Hamilton was THE primary author of the economic policies of the George Washington
administration. Hamilton took the lead in, the establishment of A national bank, A system of
tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. He owned A large library and was generally
considered AN honorable man despite being involved in a famous sex scandal.
Intermittent civil wars have broken out since ___Sudan won its independence in ___1956,
culminating in large conflicts: the first Sudanese civil war, civil unrest in the Blue Nile region
and South Kordofan, and the violence in ___Darfur. Along with scarce resources, conflicts have
been fueled by the political, economic, religious and cultural marginalization of ___minority
groups by the government in ___ Khartoum, the capital city. In addition, conflicts between
nomadic tribes in Sudan and between nomadic herders and farmers are often sparked by disputes
over scarce resources such as grazing land and drinking water.